Tony Docherty says he’d never seen a player like Celtic star released by Ange Postecoglou

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The Ange Postecoglou era was a memorable one for Celtic fans.

Brought in from J-League side Yokohama F. Marinos, not many knew who Postecoglou was, but it didn’t take him too long to make himself known.

It needs to be remembered that Celtic were in a bit of a mess, for the first time in a long time, they weren’t champions and there were off-field issues.

But that’s when Postecoglou worked his magic and the Bhoys were playing some of the best football fans have seen for a long time. 

Rightfully so, the manager himself, and his new Japanese stars, amongst many others, were making headlines and delivering trophies for fun.

But there might have been a moment under Postecoglou at Celtic that was forgotten about and that’s the release of Leigh Griffiths.

Tony Docherty shares insight into Leigh Griffiths

Griffiths scored goals for Celtic and won the trophies, but the sense is that he could and should have done a lot more.

One thing is for sure, the latter stages of his career at Parkhead just drifted away and that’s when Postecoglou opted to let him go as his contract was coming to an end in 2022.

But one man who saw him up close and personal in Scotland colours was Tony Docherty and how he had never seen anything like the left-footed goalscorer.

The Dundee manager expressed how he was blown away by the striker and his ‘unbelievable technique’, as he told PLZ Soccer. 

“Leigh Griffiths, my experience with Scotland, Leigh Griffiths struck the ball differently from everybody,” said Docherty. “He had an unbelievable technique with striking the ball with his left foot. 

“I remember he used to go after training. Him and Craig Gordon would stay out and there would just be free-kicks. There were the two when I came away from my experience in Scotland where I thought ‘pfff, that’s different from what I have seen at a club level’.”

Griffiths’ Celtic career in numbers

On the international stage, Griffiths played 22 matches for his country, scoring four goals and you feel it should have been more for the talents he had.

Now 34, he is now playing in Australia for Mandurah City and probably wonders what could have been.

But during his days at Celtic, there were still moments to remember, with over 100 goals to his name, as posted by Transfermarkt.